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In pictures: Kumbh Mela's holiest day

10 February 2013
Last updated at 12:26

Photographer Ronny Sen's images of the holiest day at India's Kumbh Mela festival.

At first light on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims made their way to the water's edge, at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet, in Allahabad in northern India. All photographs by Ronny Sen.

The early arrivals included sadhus, or holy men, many of them naked, dreadlocked and smeared in ash.

Sunday is the holiest day of the 55-day Kumbh Mela festival, which is held every 12 years and is believed to be the biggest human gathering on Earth.

Up to 100 million people are expected to bathe in the waters across the whole 55 days - some 30 million of them on Sunday alone.

The 2013 event is a Maha Kumbh Mela - and that takes place only every 144 years.

The Kumbh Mela has its origins in Hindu mythology. Many believe that when gods and demons fought over a pitcher of nectar, a few drops fell on the four places where the festival is held.

The auspicious bathing days are determined by the alignment of stars.

Thousands of poor families are camping out under open skies in cold weather at the sprawling festival grounds.

The sadhus come from various Hindu religious orders.

Police struggled at times to keep control, simply because of the sheer number of people at the event.

Most pilgrims immerse themselves in the water, while some drink it or bottle it to take home.